Look, the six-foot snow banks are gone!

Never have we so closely watched the weather as this winter and spring (or “sprinter,” as my daughter affectionately called it).  And we watch the weather very closely in Saskatchewan.

While it's not as apparent now, with the “normal” spring-like weather we’re having, there is still evidence of the horror we lived through the last six months.

As we drove northward on the May long weekend, we spotted a few specks of leftover snow banks on the side of the road.  At my parents’ farm, larger banks of snow adorned the east-facing slopes of the North Saskatchewan River, like miniature glaciers where glaciers really shouldn’t exist.  Regina’s landfill still has a massive snow bank where the winter’s record-breaking amounts of snow were dumped.  There is some disagreement, apparently, as to whether all of it will melt before winter… sheesh. 

Winter was always more enjoyable as a child

We had six months of snow on the ground this year – that’s enough.  We broke the record for the most snowfall and I believe it was the coldest month of March in 50 years.  It was painful for us, not to mention our Filipino neighbours, who bravely learned how to work a snow blower (I would guess it was their first time by the significant debris that ended up on our lawns).  It was also an experience of a lifetime for the Japanese student living with us, who brought with her non-insulated boots and paper-thin gloves for our minus 20-degree weather.

Almost every day, I would reassure our student from the warm clime of southern Japan that this would be the coldest it would get.  She must have thought we Canadians liked to tease, because it became colder the closer it got to April.  And every time we would drive down our street, jumping in and out of foot-deep snow ruts, she would utter, “Whoa, wow!”  When I told her we’ve had the most snow ever, she said, “I’m very lucky.”  The Japanese are so diplomatic.

There were some explanations offered as to why we suffered this cruel fate during this period of so-called global warming.  The climate people used the analogy of a large rock up in the atmosphere over Greenland.  Somehow this “rock” diverted the jet stream so we got all the cold, and somewhere in the world, they got a bit more heat.  Maybe the ice caps melted a bit more at our expense, which is not exactly a win-win.  Polar bears suffer, we suffer.  Why don’t we just keep the atmospheric air flows where they’re meant to be?

As I shovelled 12,000 pounds of snow off my roof in April, I briefly considered moving to a warmer climate like B.C. or North Dakota (a little warmer maybe?)  Then I reconsidered.  After all, I now I have the privilege to tell my grandchildren and great-grandchildren that I survived one of the harshest winters in the history of all mankind. 

When they’ll be going to school in shorts and t-shirts in December, cruising down the streets on their hovercrafts, I’ll be able to say to them, “Back in my day, I had to walk through six feet of snow, uphill both ways, just to get to work!”  

Because I did… I really did.

Ninety years and she's still going strong

            This last weekend my grandma, Mary Roth, celebrated her 90^th birthday.  That’s a lot of years.  Having experienced the Great Depression and a World War, having raised six rowdy kids on a farm (okay, I'll leave my mom out of it - five rowdy kids), and having supported an auctioneer who was gone many a weekend, she has seen and experienced more than most of the world’s population. 

            I learned a few more things about her this last weekend I didn’t know.  She became a hairdresser, for instance, when she was about 50, but first had to write her grade 12 equivalency before she could study hairdressing.  Having always had my hair cut by her when I was young, I thought she had done it forever.

            There is definitely a tenacity of spirit that never stopped her from doing things she wanted to.  When she was 88, for instance, she fought the authorities to get her driver’s license back.  She took her driver’s tests and eventually gained back a limited license.  Taking your driver’s exam at 88 is likely not as easy as when you’re 16, especially if this is the first time in your life that you’ve had to take it.

            She did always have a heavy foot though.  I remember one time when she took my cousin and I home in the back of her half-ton with our bikes.  We watched intently through the back window as the speedometer hit 140 km/h down a single-lane highway.  We thought it was great fun.

Mary Roth and her great-granddaughter

            There are a few other things about my grandma that dispel the myths about “old people.”  For one, she certainly doesn’t dress like an old person.  There are never any afghan-like garments draped over her shoulders or funny hats and white runners.  She dresses fashionably, going as far as to match her eye glasses with her outfits.  When she watches the news, her first comments are often about what the women anchors are wearing.  “Oh that blouse does not suit her.”  Never mind the news, it’s about the fashion!

            Many older people also tend to scale back their caffeine intake as they get older.  A cup of hot water with lemon tends to replace the watered down coffee.  But Grandma has never watered down her coffee – in fact, quite the opposite.  I think it’s getting stronger. 

            One of her favourite gifts at Christmas time is a Starbucks gift card.  She received about $100 worth one Christmas.  Now that she’s been given a Keurig coffee maker for her birthday, she’s free to make a cup of her favourite high-octane blend with the push of a button.

            She’s also quite an active woman for her age, despite a couple bad falls and broken bones in the last few years  While she may have had to give up bowling (both the real and Nintendo Wii variety), she can still walk without the aid of a walker or cane.  She’s also very independent, even though she now lives in a senior’s complex with those she calls “old people.”

            One other quirk about my grandma I have to share.  She has the most unique accent when she answers the phone.  I don’t think she has a British bone in her body (she’s of German Mennonite ancestry), but she answers the phone with a very unique British “Hello”.  After the greeting, her normal speech resumes.  Like her personality, it’s distinct.

            In all the years, we continue to appreciate her distinct tastes, enthusiasm, and devotion to her faith and family.  Grandma has gone through her share of hardships, yet these haven’t stopped her.  In my view, she’s only become stronger.